Have you ever listened to silence? No matter what you think, the answer is no. Silence does not exist, only different kinds of quiet. If you’ve ever listened to a ‘silent’ night, really focussed in, its actually extremely noisy. As soon as you focus on the little sounds they become all that you can hear. The wind, leaves rustling, cars driving along roads, dogs barking, and of course your own breath and heartbeat. Even if you were to get away from all civilisation and isolate yourself from the other noises, you can never escape the sound of your own breath and heartbeat. Or can you?

There exists a completely soundproofed room that absorbs sound so effectively that you cannot hear your own breath or heartbeat. Apparently subjects placed in the room only lasted 20 minutes before demanding to be let out. Can you imagine silence? Pure silence. Not even the sound of your own heart to tell you that you’re still alive, that anything exists at all. Suddenly I’m grateful for all the noise around me.